Assistant Secretary General in charge of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat,
Dr. Douglas Slater, told regional culture stakeholders from government
and the artistic community that their input and ideas were crucial to
post COVID-19 resilience.

He was speaking at the beginning of the ‘First Regional Dialogue on
Culture in a COVID-19 Environment’ which was held virtually on
Wednesday.

“The Region looks to you as an
important stakeholder to provide it with your inputs and ideas. If there
was ever a time that we need culture and creativity to address our
challenges, it is now,” Dr. Slater opined.

He said the meeting was timely and addressed an issue that was very
relevant to the Region. According to him, COVID-19 had upended almost
every aspect of CARICOM’s economic and social development. He said
Member States had a tremendous challenge ahead in addressing the
upcoming hurricane season, given existing vulnerabilities.

Bottom Left corner, Assistant Secretary General in charge of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Douglas Slater

He encouraged the representatives of the creative industries to
prepare to demonstrate the importance of culture as an element in the
life blood of society, noting that there was a critical role for
creatives to play in the rebuilding of a resilient Caribbean Community.

In his remarks, Dr. Slater also gave an overview of the actions
taken by the CARICOM Secretariat since the advent of COVID-19 in
December 2019. He outlined that the CARICOM Secretariat had been
monitoring the development of the virus almost daily. He also disclosed
that the Secretariat had been working closely with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) along
with other Regional stakeholders and partners from the onset. He noted
that there had also been significant engagements with the air and cruise
line industries.

He explained that other sectors were also engaged, through special
meetings of the various regional Councils noting that “COVID-19 impacted
on every aspect of the Region’s economic development.” Some of the
areas that received the attention of special meetings included
agriculture, trade, education, security and health. According to Dr.
Slater, the focus was on planning for worse case scenarios and the
exploration of opportunities to emerge a more resilient Region.

“It is reasonable to say that we
had astute political and technical leadership in CARICOM to handle this.
The figures demonstrate this,” Dr. Slater stated.

He said the Region had been able to manage this first outbreak of
COVID-19 well, relative to the international environment and more
developed and endowed countries.

“We recognised very early that we
have limitations in our health care systems and that we must heed the
advice of our scientists and medical personnel and I want to place on
record our gratitude to health care workers as well as the regional
universities,” he said.

He also commended CARPHA and CDEMA for what he referred to as yeoman service to the Region.

He revealed that a Regional Public Health Protocol was now being
developed to guide the reopening of the Region. According to him, all
the components may not be ideal to all Member States and he expected
that some may not use it in its entirety. But the idea was to have a
baseline to be used.

“We expect, depending on the situation in particular Member States to have some adaptation of that protocol,” he said.

During the meeting, participants gave an overview of the situation
in their countries as it relates to culture, particularly regarding
cancelled events and festivals. Several countries and regional agencies,
notably the Caribbean Development Bank and
Caribbean Export, indicated that stimulus packages were available or in
development to assist artists and cultural workers who are facing
economic challenges during this period.

The meeting made a number of recommendations for follow-up action
including addressing roadblocks to artists monetising online content;
strengthening industry associations in all sectors across the Region;
establishing content quotas to mandate the use of local music and film
on national media platforms; data collection on the impact of the
pandemic on the sector; analytics of on-line consumption and increased
registration of artists to facilitate support.

The meeting acknowledged the increased use of online platforms for
performance, festivals and events and recommended that CARIFESTA XV
scheduled for 2021 in Antigua and Barbuda, serve as catalyst and game
changer in a new approach to presenting festivals in a mixed on and
off-line format and to jump start the festival economy. There was also a
call by creative practitioners for a harmonised regional incentives
regime and a moratorium on duties and charges on inputs to the sector
for a specified period.